Title: Location, Setting and Structure: the Landscape Archaeology of Religious Rock Carvings and Cave Temples
Format: Online (Meeting ID: 844 2286 9180; Passcode: 150337)
Lecturer: Dr. Francesca Monteith (Research lecturer, School of Cultural Heritage, Northwest University, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province; PhD, Department of Archaeology, Peking University)
Date: Monday, 6 February 2023
Time: 14:15-16:00 (Berlin time)
Organized by: Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies, Institute of East Asian Art History, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
Cave temples and religious rock carvings provide key insight into Buddhist practice and its evolution in early Medieval China (ca. 360-1279 CE). Although some sites appear in historical records and contain inscriptions, the majority of cave temples do not. Many religious rock carvings are poorly preserved, dispersed and essentially hidden within the landscape. This talk aims to highlight how geospatial and archaeological methods can be used alongside art historical methods to allow us to further interpret sites with lost paintings or eroded statuary. In so doing, the variedroles of cave temples and religious rock carving sites demonstrate their functions.
